Hellobee Boards

We were never real cruise people prior to kids, but cruising with LOs is SO EASY that its a top choice for us now. Unpack only once, food/entertainment/pools all in one place, get to explore bits of the world, etc.

@Dahlia: yes to that sentence about convincing extra adults. A lot of our vacay planning involves “sooooo grandma and grandpa...we were thinking of going to X this year..you interested?”

@Littlebit7: For maximum vacation enjoyment, adult to child ratio should be at least 3 to 1, if not more

We haven’t yet traveled with 2 (LO2 is still baking!), but our little guy doesn’t really enjoy the beach (although he’s been 3 or 4 times now). His favorite trips have been to cities where we ride public transport, walk around exploring, etc. We tagged along in the fall when DH had a work trip to DC and LO still talks about it regularly.

We haven't done an all inclusive yet with kids, but we've done beach vacations (tons of places on the east coast, from Cape Cod to Florida and most major beach places between). We did Disney last summer which was great, we're doing a cruise this summer which should be fun.

People in my area seem to love Turks and Caicos and Punta Cana a lot for kids. The resorts in Mexico as well. I've heard great things about Beaches, the Paradisus Reserve, and the Nickelodeon resorts.

Our big trips we've done so far...
We've done an all inclusive to punta Cana which was super kid friendly and easy. They had strollers, cribs, milk, pouches, etc.
A week in a Prince Edward Island which was awesome and fun and budget friendly. Super quick flight for us too (Ontario)
A week in Vermont at a ski resort this December. It was fun but the kids were too young and I was pregnant so couldn't enjoy everything there was... but we made the most of it. The drive was long and I'm not up for a road trip again any time soon.

We are heading to Florida/Disney next week!

@catlady: Very good question! DS is two and we’ve only had one vacation with him so far and I’d say it was so so. It was to Sanibel Island in Florida. Totally fine place but it was actually too cold when we went to really take advantage of all there was to do and the condos were just too small to spend so much time in. We are planning a Disney cruise when he’s about to turn four. Super excited about that (18 months away).

@erinbaderin: haha, I was wondering where this great resort was when I was in Puerto Vallerta and then I realised that we stayed at the the Marival too. The kids buffet did not impress me. I remember tuna fish sandwiches which LO would not touch with a 10 foot pole. I had a hard time finding food she would eat. The suites were awesome though.

@catlady: We are big fans of all inclusive with young children. Pool time , zero thought about food or snacks, and 24 hour room service. And if you pick the right resort, childcare included. I am looking at Grand Palladium in the Riveria Maya!

Point Sebago in Maine.
http://www.pointsebago.com/?gclid=CjwKCAiA_ojVBRAlEiwAOLRxI8_P0Boand-ArBCkqI7Lt1B_0BIC6UOlPkvwsR2zXFzHl52HTlzPIRoC3LQQAvD_BwE

You can stay anywhere from a tent, to trailer, to house and they have fun activities for all different ages all day. It kind of feels a little like the movie Dirty Dancing haha.

So far, Myrtle Beach has been our favorite family friendly destination. There's a lot for families to do, or you can just relax by the pool or beach. We did find that beach vacations, and all vacations in general really, get easier once they drop down to one nap. It's a lot of work cleaning the sand and stuff off twice a day to put them to sleep.

@ElbieKay: We went to Amelia Island for our babymoon when I was pregnant. We stayed at the Omni resort, which we loved, although the food on site was expensive. We saw lots of families there, and the kiddie pool looked really nice. I think that would be a good, relaxing family destination.

Outside of theme parks, we loved Atlantis in the Bahamas. It has wonderful pools and beaches, and a lot of kid themed activities.

@808love: I second this! Love the weather, ocean, San Diego Zoo, and LegoLand for this age group. My kids had a BLAST at LegoLand and they weren't that into legos when we went (ages almost 3&5).

@catlady: My DH doesn’t love the idea of a beach resort either. The Disney cruise we took last month was actually the perfect vacation for us. We were able to get lots of beach and pool time and still do other stuff.

Other than our honeymoon it was the best vacation I’ve done as an adult. Over 10 days we did so many amazing things. We saw some of Puerto Rico, walked around old San Juan, went snorkeling off the coast and hung out on some great beaches on tiny islands. Once we got on the boat there was lots to do, including some time in the adult time thanks to the kids club. The meals were fun and couldn’t have been much more convenient. On St. Thomas we did a multi beach/snorkel excursion, had fun on Disney’s island, then went to Orlando and did Disney springs, a small bit of universal city walk, and went to a very kid friendly water park that was part of our resort.

Sorry I could go on and on about it!

This isn’t convenient for you, but for someone else reading this thread who live further west, we took our 2 yo to Maui and I was like “oh, I get why everyone goes to Hawaii!” I mean I knew it was beautiful and all that? But it’s a truly great place to travel with kids! It was hilarious seeing all the car seats lined up while we got our baggage.

We aren’t huge fans of beach vacations either. With kids we have liked Denver, Northern California, Austin and San Antonio… We haven’t brought the kids in a while but I think a great family area is upstate New York- look at Lake George- super super family friendly.

@catlady: We went with my in laws a couple years ago with 3 kids (ages 2, 2, and 1), grandparents and us to buffalo/ Niagara falls/ Toronto and it was so fun! Loved walking around Niagara, the butterfly conservatory there, the railway that goes up and down the cliff by the visitor center was a big hit. Toronto was super fun with the zoo, the islands and riding on the streetcars! It was a busy vacation, but fun.

@miss flamingo LOL, I was just coming to post that I don't really consider any vacation with young kids relaxing! I read somewhere that when you go somewhere with your young kids, it's not a vacation - it's a trip. Haha. Not to say you can't have fun, but yeah. We haven't done any real "vacations" with our 2.5 year old (just trips to visit family) .We did do a long weekend at Disney but we only live a 3 hour drive away so it wasn't a big trip.

I think once we get past the toddler phase, it may be easier.

@MrsADS: My husband and I usually each take a day to ourselves when we are on vacation. It works well with one child.. But I think it will cease working this summer when we have twins.